7 Explosive Tips To Be A Better Artist!

Here are few of my ideas and secrets on how to make incredible, gunpowder, exploding art.

1. I try to start as close to the end as possible.  No one wants to see unfinished work.  No one wants that sense of emptiness.  Get some gunpowder on it.  Light the fuse.  Blow it up.  Scrape it off.  Do it again.  And again.  Finish it.  It's a blast!

2. I’m a sadist. I make awful things happen to my art.  I want and hope you feel some emotion.  I want you to care. Sometimes my art burns to a crisp.  I cry. Then, I give it some character.  I try to make it a character you will love.  I hope it's a character you will want to hang out with, knowing what they have been through.

3. I make my art for me.  I know some of you will hate my art. And that's okay. I don’t try to make everyone happy. I'm not afraid of what people think. On second thought, I do care what the Fire Marshall thinks.

4. I try to give you as much information as possible.  I want you to see the process, I want you to learn how to do it. I want you to have fun. To heck with some secret formula or trick.  I want you to have as complete an understanding as possible of what is going on, where and why, that you could light the fuse and finish the piece on your own.  Especially if I get blown to bits!

5. I try not to hurt anyone.  When I light the fuse, stand back!

6.  I work a lot.  I practice a lot. I make mistakes. I hope I get a little better every day.

7. My art needs to go BOOM!

Stick Vega is the American Gunpowder Artist and author of LESS KILLING.  Stick currently lives and creates explosive pop art at The Blast Factory in Madison, Wisconsin. Not limited to one medium, he works in gunpowder drawings and paintings, photography, digital art and writing. Follow Stick on Facebook and/or Twitter.